Originally Posted by
alanbikehouston
Many of the experienced bike messengers in Houston prefer mountain bikes. They find that with light weight slick tires, a mountain bike is about as fast as a road bike for the one, two or three mile trips they are taking. And, if a mountain bike is properly fitted to the rider, the looong wheelbase soaks up road shock and makes for a stable ride no matter how terrible the road conditions...gravel, dirt, debris, rain, ice...
But, unlike road bikes, mountain bikes can handle the broken concrete, potholes and other problems that exist on the bombed out streets of inner city Houston. The guy on the road bike must go around those obstacles, or even avoid certain streets entirely. The guy on the mountain bike can ride in a straight line from "A" to "B", no matter how bad the streets are in between.
I had a regular twenty mile circuit that I was riding four or five times a week. My times on a mountain bike were more or less the same as on a road bike. The only days I regretted being on the mountain bike were days I was riding into a powerful headwind...a mountain bike makes a little harder to stay in an aero position for long periods of time.
My experience in commuting in Houston echos yours. My commute takes me from Westview & Conrad Sauer down Westview to Antione to Memorial to Shepherd to Westiemer on in to Texas Southern University about 17 miles one way. The roads even outside the 610 loop let alone in the inner city leave much to be desired. For commuting I primarily rely on my hybridized mountian bike. Even on 26X1.5 tires it has contact patch with the road twice as wide than 700C tires. Second, MTB's have a more relaxed geometry than road bikes that at least to my perception are more stable over the road.. Third my road bike is pure racing machine so I have no eyelets for racks and that is the other issue that favors mountian bikes. The only other human powered vehicle I own that I commute on is my Schwinn Town and Country Trike which is a short range, heavy/bulky cargo & grocery hauler. In comparision it has it's own inherent problems as a commuter..